Diaper tabs for infants&#39; shirts



Jan. 26, 1965 R. D. WELLS 3,166,763

DIAPER TABS FOR INFANTS SHIRTS Filed Sept. 4, 1962 muumzg.

United States Patent This invention relates to diaper tabs and more particularly to diaper tabs for infants shirts of the kind shown for example in Ryan Patent No. 2,511,809.

Shirts for infants in the diaper stage are made both with and without diaper tabs. It is common practice in baby care to recommend that diapers be pinned to a shirt for keeping both the diapers and shirt in place. When the shirts are composed of knit fabric, repeated pinnings to the knit fabric forming the body of the shirt tend to disrupt the yarns, cause holes and shorten the life of the garment. This explains the popularity of the diaper tab garment, which provides a material having more substance than knit fabric, usually an inextensible sturdy woven fabric, through which pins can repeatedly be passed without as much damage. While in many cases the woven tabs are provided with eyelet holes to accommodate snap fasteners of pants as diaper holders, which render pinning possible through these holes without piercing the woven fabric, many users do not bother to space and align the pin with the holes and still pass the pin through the body of the woven fabric of the tab.

A disadvantage of diaper tabs has always been, however, that this fabric tends to hold absorbed moisture and transmit it upwardly and past the top of the Waterproof pants for undesired distribution into the shirt above the top diaper line.

Tab fabrics in some cases have been treated with water-repellant finishes which, when new, are reasonably effective in reducing absorption and transmittal of moisture along the tape. However, such treatments are not permanent through the many cycles of use and washing to which infants shirts are subjected. Also they are frequently rendered ineffective by soap or detergent residues from washing, which being wetting agents overcome the surface repellancy of the treatments. Even when the diaper tabs are fabricated wholly from non-absorbent yarns, capillary wicking within and between the yarns occurs. Waterproof, as distinguished from merely waterrepellant, surface coatings are useful in restricting Wicking, whether the yarns be water-absorbent or non-absorbent, but they tend to stiffen the fabric if made of sufficient thickness to have any laundering durability, and make pinning by piercing difficult. However, they tend to be unreliable because internal capillary transmission of moisture will occur between the surface coatings after imperfections in the coatings develop from laundering or otherwise, for example, by piercing with pins. If the waterproof material thoroughly impregnates the fabric, the stiffening and lack of easy pinnability defeat the purpose of the tab.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to overcome the disadvantages inherent in diaper tabs as heretofore utilized, fabricated from normal textile yarns, and to provide a tab which has the desirable softness of a fabric constituted of cotton or other potentially water-absorbent or non-absorbent yarn, permitting easy pinning and yet which will not act as a long and continuous wick to transmit moisture absorbed from the diaper into the shirt. This feature remains independent of the life of any water-repellant treatment.

In accordance with this invention, a diaper tab fabricated as by weaving normal textile yarns is maintained in acceptable soft condition, but is provided with a series of spaced wick stops or narrow transverse bands of waterproof material which extends through and through the fabric and act as barriers against transmission of moisture thereacross, either surface-wise or by internal capillary action, despite repeated launderings. Since the bands are relatively narrow and exist only in small areas of the entire diaper tab, they do not seriously interfere with pinning operations through the remainder of the tabs.

While the impregnation may be carried out in any desired manner, it has been found most practicable to apply the impregnating material from one side of the fabric only. With such a one-sided operation, however, successful results are not secured with conventional application methods such as printing or swabbing. Accordingly a preferred method of application is one wherein the impregnating compound is a thermoplastic or thermosetting waterproof material which is pressed with fluid pressure through the fabric in the limited band areas, and by reason of the absence of solvent, provides a barrier having sufiicient density and continuity to prevent moisture from crossing the barriers through capillary action or otherwise. The material should have excellent waterproof properties and have good resistance to cumulative discoloration and deterioration by urine and laundering, e.g. a themosetting vinyl composition of the type commercially used for end binding diapers.

In addition to providing barriers along the length of the tab, the tab, if of Woven material, may have the same compound applied to areas which will ultimately form one or more of the ends of the diaper tab after cutting a length of the web to desired individual lengths through impregnated areas.

A shirt having a diaper tab fabricated in accordance with this invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawing, while enlarged views of the diaper tab itself are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Thus an infants shirt having a body 10 of conventional knit fabric is provided in the usual manner with a pair of diaper tabs 12 and 14 formed of an inextensible sturdy woven fabric such as cotton webbing or tape having longitudinal woven selvages. The upper ends of tabs 12 and 14 are stitched, e.g., as in the Ryan patent above referred to, to the body fabric by circular lines of stitching 15 with the opposite ends being unattached so that the webs hang loosely down.

The webs 12 and 14 are each provided with two intermediate wick stops 20 and 22 and end edge sealers 24 and 26, respectively, at least the wick stops being formed by a through and through impregnation of the woven fabric with a waterproof compound which acts to prevent capillary passage of moisture thereacross internally or externally. The wick stops 20 and 22 are of substantially the same thickness as the unimpregnated areas. The same compound may be applied as the end sealants, though here the primary function is to prevent fraying rather than to act as wick stops. However, as described in said copending application, the web may be impregnated in long lengths and subsequently cut into tab lengths centrally across impregnated areas, thus automatically providing the end edge-sealed areas 24 and 26.

As shown the tabs are also provided with eyelet apertures 28 for use in attaching snap-fasteners or for pinnmg.

Normally the woven fabric is a cotton twill tape which has been pre-treated with a typical so-called durable type water-repellant by normal commercial means to help prevent gross moisture absorption as long as it remains effective.

Each Wick stop band acts as a barrier to continuing moisture migration along the tape when the area preceding it may have become wet due to rubbing, soap residue, or loss of water-repellant finish. The band feature is effective if used on tapes without wa-ter-repellant finish,

in limiting the wet area. However, users would norm-ally prefer what proteetion the water-repellant does afford in lowering the rate of absorption, for as long as it is effective, one reason being that the dry tape in the pinning areas is easier and less unpleasant to pin through as the shirt continues in use through several diaper changes.

It has also been found that the wick stop bands, as well as the end band, also tend to keep the tape flatter through washing, for easier deployment and pinning.

What is claimed is:

1. In an infants shirt, a diaper tab attached at its upper end to said shirt, said tab comprising textile fibers assembled to form a one piece unitary sturdy inextensible tape, adense waterproofing agent impregnating said tape through-and-through at a plurality of narrow transverse longitudinally spaced areas between the ends of said tape, forming dense barriers to capillary passage of mois ture along fibers lying in said narrow areas, and longer unimpregnated areas lying between said dense barriers presenting less dense areas for readily pinnable attachment of diapers to said tabs with diaper pins, said narrow transverse longitudinal areas being of substantially the same thickness as said unimpregnated areas, said dense barriers preventing capillary transmission of moisture, absorbed in any of said pinnable areas, along the fibers lying in an adjacent barrier upwardly through said adjacent barrier towards the point of attachment of said tab to said shirt.

2. In an infants shirt, a diaper tab as claimed in claim 1 wherein said tab is comprised of potentially Water-absorbent textile fibers.

3. In an infants shirt, a diaper tab as claimed in claim 2 wherein said textile fibers have a coating of waterrepellent material thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,511,809 Ryan June 13, 1950 2,619,089 Swartz Nov. 25, 1952 2,724,835 Connors Nov. 29, 1955 

1. IN AN INFANT''S SHIRT, A DIAPER TAB ATTACHED AT ITS UPPER END TO SAID SHIRT, SAID TAB COMPRISING TEXTILE FIBERS ASSEMBLED TO FORM A ONE PIECE UNITARY STURDY INEXTENSIBLE TAPE, A DENSE WATERPROOFING AGENT IMPREGNATING SAID TAPE THROUGH-AND-THROUGH AT A PLURALITY OF NARROW TRANSVERSE LONGITUDINALLY SPACED AREAS BETWEEN THE ENDS OF SAID TAPE, FORMING DENSE BARRIERS TO CAPILLARY PASSAGE OF MOISTURE ALONG FIBERS LYING SAID NARROW AREAS, AND LONGER UNIMPREGNATED AREAS LYING BETWEEN SAID DENSE BARRIERS PRESENTING LESS DENSE AREAS FOR READILY PINNABLE ATTACHMENT OF DIAPERS TO SAID TABS WITH DIAPER PINS, SAID NARROW TRANSVERSE LONGITUDINAL AREAS BEING OF SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME THICKNESS AS SAID UNIMPREGNATED AREAS, SAID DENSE BARRIERS PREVENTING CAPILLARY TRANSMISSION OF MOSITURE, ABSORBED IN ANY OF SAID PINNABLE AREAS, LONG THE FIBERS LYING IN AN ADJACENT BARRIER UPWARDLY THROUGH SAID ADJACENT BARRIER TOWARDS THE POINT OF ATTACHMENT OF SAID TAB TO SAID SHIRT. 